Geocaching is delightful because of the people who play it — adventure-seekers, makers, parents, astronauts and (sometimes) celebrities. Read their stories.
Get ready: Geocaching Block Party 2015 is right around the corner. Over the next few weeks, we’ll give you a small taste of the awesomeness you can expect when you’re here in Seattle, Washington. And never fear! You still have time to log your Will Attend.
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Who doesn’t love a good party with great geocaching friends? Answer: No one.
Geocaching Events are a great way to meet the local geocaching community where everyone is oddly enough, just like you. Geocachers will designate a time and location to meet and discuss their favorite hobby. Geocaching events are fun, so always expect a good time!
Anyone can plan and host an event. Here are 12 tips and tricks to get you started on planning the best geo-bash around.
Some people find much more than just cache containers when they’re introduced to geocaching. Geocachers may discover parks they never knew existed, the hidden history of their community or even the sting of stepping in poison ivy. But some geocachers wander into something else. They’re lucky enough to find the person they’ll spend the rest of their lives with.
It happens. It happened to one of the founders of Geocaching.com. Bryan Roth attended a geocaching event fourteen years ago. Fellow founder Jeremy Irish encouraged Bryan to attend.
Bryan says, “This was the first of [88] total geocaching events that I’ve attended so far. Jeremy had suggested that I attend and I figured it’d be a great opportunity to meet some members of the local geocaching community. I really didn’t know what to expect but, of course, that day has changed my life forever.”
What happened next may have been one of the very first cases of geo-love. The event’s name was innocent enough. It was called Washington Geocaching Potluck & Quilting Bee.
Bryan’s “will attend” log read, “I will be there (with chocolates).” Bryan says he wasn’t fishing for love with those chocolates, “Not at all. At the time, I don’t think I was even looking for a date. I was only thinking about meeting geocachers and getting more involved with the local community.”
But Bryan says he soon met a geocacher named Hydee and her son Dylan. He remembers his first thought, “Yeah [my first thought was]—she looks like trouble. I was right, of course. ;)”
She later told Bryan the chocolates helped cement her intuitions that he was the right person for her. She loves chocolate.
Jon Stanley, Moun10Bike, hosted the event where Hydee and Bryan first met. Jon says, “That event is actually where I first met Bryan. I didn’t know that the spark had been lit at that time, but I soon found out. Hydee and her friend CameraThyme kept referring to “AFM,” which stood for “Action Figure Man.” After a while I discovered that this was their code name for Bryan. Then, all became clear!”
Hydee’s friend CameraThyme also played a key role. Bryan says, “Thanks to CameraThyme for letting me know that Hydee was single.”
Bryan and Hydee were eventually married. They’ll be celebrating their 15th anniversary of meeting in November 2016.
Jon says Bryan and Hydee are lucky, geo-love can be a rare commodity, “I attend a fair amount of events, though, and while I’ve heard of people meeting through them, Bryan and Hydee are the only ones I personally can name who linked up as the result of an event!”
But you never know. Attend a geocaching event before September 2nd this year, and you might come away with more than just your Meet Your Road Trip Crew souvenir—you could meet your own Geo-Love.
Can’t get enough geocaching love? Check out these sweet videos from the 2014 Geocaching International Film Festival.
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Earlier this year, the National Council for Exams of Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) kicked off the Surveyor Trackable and #PSNoBoundaries Geocaching Contest. Geocachers were challenged to explore benchmarking by taking a selfie with a NCEES trackable at a NGS marker. The winning photographer would receive a trip for two to the 2015 Geocaching Block Party in Seattle.
As a twist of geocaching fate would have it, the winning photographer was Lieutenant Bob Cizaukas (Username: cizzors). Bob happens to be the geocacher who made Geocaching in Space possible. In 2013, 11 trackables hitched a ride to the International Space Station with Astronaut Rick Mastracchio. Bob convinced Mastracchio to take the trackables into space with him on Expedition 38. He also made this an interactive experience for elementary school students in Connecticut by giving each trackable to a school so that students could follow its adventure into space.
Thanks to NCEES, Bob will now be bringing one of the trackables that made the voyage to space to Geocaching Block Party for other geocachers to enjoy! We asked him to tell us about his experience with #PSNoBoundaries.
How long have you been geocaching?
I started geocaching with my wife, Jennifer, my daughter Karisa and my son Ethan (little cizzors) in November 2010.
Why did you start geocaching?
I geocache with my family and friends to exercise and be adventurous. My wife likes hiking, but I seemed to enjoy hiking more with the challenge of finding a cache. We also really enjoy the great places we have discovered and the friends we have made through geocaching.
I learned about geocaching through a chance conversation with a hot air balloon pilot about navigation. The pilot, while explaining how her GPS helps guide her hot air balloon, mentioned that she also uses the GPS for geocaching which intrigued me and so it began. I don’t recall her name and never saw her again after that 30 minute conversation in November 2010.
Tell us about the NCEES #PSNoBoundaries winning photo!
My family had never found a benchmark before so we were excited about finding one and taking a picture. We noticed there was one on the Thomaston, CT Police Department, not far from our home. We activated our new trackable, attached a bicycle reflector (since we have seen surveyors use reflectors) and headed out. My daughter Karisa, age 7, my son Ethan, age 10 and our dog Pluto, age 7 months, headed out in our geomobile to search for the benchmark. We found it and intended on getting Pluto in the photo but he wouldn’t stay still and didn’t make it into the final submission. We took the photo and a couple months later we found out we won!
The picture was of NCEES surveyor TB (TB726TN) at Benchmark LX0604.
What was the first thing you did when you learned you won tickets to Geocaching Block Party?
When I found out I won, I called my wife at work and told her the exciting news. I have always wanted to go to the Geocaching Block Party but have not had the opportunity.
What is the #1 thing you are excited for at Block Party?
I am most excited to be able to show everyone attending my Geocaching in Space bug (TB5JJN1) and the ISS geocache log.
What tip would you share with new players who want to start having fun with trackables?
My advice to new geocachers wanting to have fun with trackables is to do your best to log them and drop them into another cache as soon as possible. I also like to post a picture when possible. Attending geocaching events and asking questions to other cachers is how I found the best information about trackables.
We also asked Bob to take the What’s Your Geocaching Road Trip ‘15 Vehicle? quiz. His result was “Station Wagon.” (Although we’re guessing he’ll be taking an airplane to Block Party!)
The last Geocaching Block Party will be Saturday, August 15. Explore new geocaching adventures, celebrate 15 years of geocaching, and hang out with nearly 3000 of your new best friends. There will be plenty of fun events, food trucks, interactive exhibits and vendors. Plus, it’s a great way to earn the Meet Your Road Trip Crew souvenir. Mark your Will Attend here.
You may followed them here on the official Geocaching blog: Three brave geocachers recently embarked on a journey across the Alps on foot. Alexander Monsky (Berufsgeocacher), Tim Krüger (psycho_vm) and Benjamin Gorentschitz (MudMen_GER) finally made it across and have returned home feeling happy and exhausted.
